Besides the echo chamber consensus of about a dozen armchair regulators in this thread, what proof is there that it's absolutely impossible for this deal to close in a way that won't violate UK law?
If the specific objection is cloud and CMA won't accept remedies related to cloud, you can be sure that one of the things Microsoft is looking at is options that could exclude their cloud gaming offerings from the UK cloud gaming market. That would allow all of these other growing cloud gaming companies the CMA is worried about to compete free of Microsoft's influence there. The downside would be that UK consumers miss out on Microsoft's cloud offerings, but going by the prevailing sentiment on this forum nobody cares about cloud gaming, anyway. If the revenue potential of the acquisition exceeds lost revenue from a modified GPU offering in the UK then it's probably on a whiteboard somewhere as a potential path to resolution.
Next someone is going to say that it's not possible for Microsoft to segment the business that way and that they would have to completely stop doing business in the UK, removing Windows, Office and Azure along with Xbox. Or that the Xbox business would have to completely leave the UK. I've been following along and I don't see where either of those assertions have been proven true. The CMA decision to block is based specifically on concerns about the cloud market, not the total gaming market, and the CMA has already declared that the whole COD thing is fine and wouldn't harm competition in the UK. If Microsoft divest or eliminate the portion of their business in the UK that conflicts with UK regulation then the letter of the law is likely satisfied, even though the spirit of the law has been trampled to death. The CMA most likely can't tell Microsoft that they must deliver cloud gaming offerings to the UK to be able to do business there.
So....you start off making sarcastic remarks about all the "armchair regulators in this thread" and then throw your hat into the ring and become one yourself? Uh.....ok. Welcome to the Armchair Regulators Club then.
I don't recall saying anything was "absolutely impossible". There is a legal order in place from the CMA prohibiting MS acquisition or investment in ABK. Thus, the very important key words you highlighted in my post "as things currently stand".
Carving out UK cloud gaming market is fine, but it doesn't get you around the order prohibiting the acquisition. The UK M&A lawyer on Gaz's podcast that was post prior made that point explicitly.
I think you need to read the CMA's order because every solution you are coming up with still involves Microsoft acquiring ABK.
As things stand, that isn't legally an option in the UK. The basis of the decision is cloud, yes. The decision itself is prohibition of the deal. That is where things are right now so everything you read from me is going off of that status.
Here is the link to the draft of the final order:
Microsoft needs to get some kind of favorable ruling from the CAT in order to salvage the deal. Granted, Microsoft has hired some damn smart people and their ability to pull a rabbit out of hat shouldn't be entirely ignored.